OPINION:
As a frontline force against infectious diseases, epidemics and chronic health crises, public health drives 80% of health outcomes. Before COVID-19, public health in the U.S. was underfunded, unprepared and fraught with inequities. After more than two years in a pandemic, we can clearly see the importance of promoting a robust and equitable public-health system.
The pandemic response directed unprecedented resources toward modernizing public health. I recently served on a multi-sector task force assembled by the Bipartisan Policy Center that crafted a five-year plan to use these resources to invest in technology, workers and community partnerships capable of revitalizing our public-health system.
Through such investments, we can build a healthier America that makes advances in health equity, promotes public health through policy and provides flexible funding for public-health systems to modernize data practices and support a highly skilled workforce.
Nonprofits have a crucial role to play in modernizing our public-health system. As a national network of 300 faith-based health- and human-services organizations that have been fighting the pandemic and caring for 1 in 50 people in the U.S., we are committed to achieving a healthier, more equitable future for all.
We must work together at all levels of government and industry (and in the nonprofit sector) to move public health forward.
CHARLOTTE HABERAECKER
President & CEO
Lutheran Services in America
Annadale, Virginia
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